Southern Illinois men’s basketball head coach Scott Nagy announced the final two pieces to his staff on Wednesday in assistant coaches Steve Hawkins and Jevon Mamon.
The two coaches join assistant coach Will Veasley, player development coaches Tae Gibbs and Darreon Reddick, and director of operations Justin Endsley to round out Nagy’s initial coaching staff.
“We’re thrilled to be able to add Jevon and Steve to our staff,” Nagy said. “Jevon gives us stability and somebody who knows the players and has earned their trust and will help us move forward with some continuity, but he’s also done a great job of creating contacts in St. Louis which is a very important area for us.”
Nagy continued: “I’m super excited to have Steve with us. I’ve coached against him, and I know he’s a good coach. To have a coach who has done so in two NCAA Tournaments and has been a head coach for 28 years and to have his experience sitting next to me makes me feel very good.”
Steve Hawkins
Hawkins brings to SIU nearly four decades of coaching experience with 28 years as a head coach, most recently Quincy following a nearly two-decade stint at Western Michigan. Hawkins spent the last two seasons at Quincy where he led the Hawks to 25 wins and the GLVC tournament for the first time in six years in 2022-23.
Before Quincy, Hawkins spent 17 seasons as the head man for the Broncos winning 291 games and leading WMU to the NCAA Tournament twice with seven total postseason appearances. During his tenure, the program participated in seven of the 10 total postseasons in program history.
Under Hawkins, the Broncos finished no worse than third in the Mid-American Conference West Division while earning eight MAC West titles. He helped Western Michigan to two MAC regular season and tournament championships and earned MAC Coach of the Year honors in 2014.
In his first coaching stint at Quincy University, Hawkins compiled a record of 137-111 and had three NCAA Division II tournament appearances in nine seasons.
Jevon Mamon
Mamon is no stranger to the Salukis, spending the last five seasons as an assistant coach with the program. During his time in Carbondale, Mamon helped SIU to 86 wins and four wins over Power 6 programs.
Mamon was instrumental in signing one of the best recruiting classes in school history. He was also instrumental in the signing of Kennard Davis Jr. out of St. Louis. Troy D’Amico and Scottie Ebube were both ranked as top-10 players in the state of Illinois, and D’Amico the highest-rated in-state recruit to sign with SIU since 2008. Foster Wonders, the runner-up for Michigan Mr. Basketball in 2021 and the No. 5 ranked player in the state of Michigan, also signed with SIU. In the offseason, Ben Coupet Jr., who averaged double-figures on a conference-title-winning Little Rock team in 2020, signed with SIU as a graduate transfer.
Prior to his time at SIU, he spent two seasons as the director of operations at Loyola during the Ramblers’ Final Four run. Loyola won a school-record 32 games in 2017-18, claimed Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, and made the team’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1985. The Ramblers rolled through March, reaching the Final Four and finishing the season ranked No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Prior to Loyola, Mamon was the varsity head coach at Hyde Park Academy (2016-17) in Chicago and Richards High School (2014-16), where he piloted the varsity team to a South Suburban Conference Red Division championship in 2016.
